Term
| Does the 14th Amendment apply the Bill of Rights to the states? |
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Definition
| No. The 14th amendment contains a due process clause which protects those rights that are paramount to our concept of ordered liberty, but is not a blanket application of the Bill of Rights |
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Term
| When does a person have a right to a jury trial? |
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Definition
| In any criminal case, regardless of its seriousness |
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Term
| Is a person allowed a jury trial in petty offenses? Why or why not? |
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Definition
| No, for the sake of a simpler, more efficient justice system |
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Term
| Do Americans have an explicit right to privacy? |
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Definition
| No. However we do have an implicit one, as per the 1st amendment. The 1st amendment has what the Supreme Court deemed "penumbras," which are rights derived from the framers' intentions on writing the amendment |
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Term
| Could an agent of the government, knowing for certain that someone just swallowed illegal drugs, take that person to a physician to have their stomach pumped in order to get the drugs? |
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Definition
| No, such an action "shocks the conscious" and is akin to torture |
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Term
| Is hearsay allowed to establish probable cause? |
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Definition
| Yes, if the hearsay can be corroborated to an extent and/or the source is reliable |
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Term
| Does probable cause require an officer be able to conclude that the information he or she has will be sufficient to prove guilt at trial? |
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Definition
| No. Probable cause only requires a preponderance of evidence that indicates that a crime PROBABLY happened. Proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is only required at trial and is not an officer's responsibility |
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Term
| If officers go to make a routine felony arrest without a warrant, force open the door, and find evidence of a crime in plain view, is the evidence admissible? |
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Definition
| No. The officers did not have an arrest warrant so did not have cause to force their way into the home, given that no exigent circumstances existed |
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Term
| If State law states that an act is not arrestable but merely punished by a citation, can an officer arrest? |
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Definition
| Yes. The Constitution holds that if an officer believes a crime has been committed, they may arrest. An officer should only have to establish that there had probably been a crime, and not have to worry if the crime had been serious enough to be considered a felony |
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Term
| Suppose an officer believed a person had committed a minor crime and against state law, arrested him. Would evidence found in the subsequent search be allowed into trial? |
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Definition
| Yes. The officer is constitutionally allowed to arrest a person who commits any crime, and is allowed to search after any constitutional arrest. |
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Term
| Does the Constitution consider a vehicle to have the same privacy as a home or office? |
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Definition
| No. Vehicles are easily movable, do not usually carry private personal items,and are more subject to the public eye (because of the windows) |
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Term
| What is required for a legal, warrantless search of a vehicle? |
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Definition
| An officer simply needs probable cause that the vehicle contains contraband. This probable cause is independent to that required for arresting the vehicle's driver. |
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Term
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Definition
| A reasonable amount of suspicion, supported by circumstances sufficiently strong to justify a prudent and cautious person's belief that certain facts are probably true |
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Term
| Is the officer's subjective intention when stopping a person relevant to an arrest/search made after the person was stopped? |
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Definition
| No. So long as the officer had articulable reasons that would justify such a stop, his or her subjective intentions are irrelevant. |
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Term
| Can a seizure occur even if the person does not yield? |
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Definition
| No. A person must stop either of their own will or through physical force |
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Term
| What is the test used to determine probable cause? |
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Definition
| Totality of the circumstances |
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Term
| What are the exceptions to the arrest warrant requirement? |
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Definition
-Reliable informant gave information that is corroborated
-Crime committed in officer's presence
-The time lost in obtaining a warrant would permit the perpetrator to escape or evidence to be lost |
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Term
| What are the exceptions to the search warrant requirement? |
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Definition
-Search incident to lawful arrest
-Plain view
-Consent
-Vehicles
-Exigent circumstances (evidence will be lost or damaged) (not allowed if police created these circumstances)
-Hot pursuit |
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Term
| What are the exceptions to knock and notice? |
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Definition
-Exigent circumstances (someone is in danger, imminent destruction of evidence)
-Occupants are already aware of police presence
- Reasonable suspicion that knocking and announcing would be dangerous, useless or would inhibit an investigation |
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Term
| What are the purposes of the knock and announce rule? |
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Definition
-Give occupant time to answer the door
-Lessen chance that occupants believe officers to be burglars and injure them
-Give occupant chance to produce evidence, avoiding a search |
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Term
| After an arrest made in the arrestee's home, where may officers search? |
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Definition
-Immediate area under arrestee's control
-Arrestee's person
-Officers may perform a protective sweep of the entire house to ensure that no one else is present who may pose a danger |
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Term
| What are the purposes to a search subsequent to an arrest? |
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Definition
-To ensure that any evidence on the arrestee's person is found and won't be destroyed
-To ensure officer safety by checking for weapons or means by which the person may escape custody |
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Term
| If an officer seizes an item of evidence that was in plain view during a protective sweep, is the item admissible in court? |
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Definition
| Yes, provided the sweep was lawful and the item was truly in plain view. |
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Term
| Does a vehicle inventory search subsequent to the vehicle being impounded require probable cause? |
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Definition
| No, the inventory is to protect the owner's belongings and is not a criminal investigation. |
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Term
| Suppose an officer stops a person for a traffic violation and issues the driver a citation, although the officer was allowed to make an arrest. The officer then decides to search the vehicle and finds contraband. Would this be allowed into evidence? |
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Definition
| No. The only purposes of a search incident to an arrest are to disarm the person arrested and recover evidence. Neither apply. |
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Term
| If police, either through a warrant or probable cause, can search a vehicle, may they also search any container therein? |
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Definition
| Yes, provided it falls into the scope of the search. If the search is for drugs, any container may hold them so can be searched. If searching for a lawnmower, than no. |
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Term
| Do officers require probable cause to search a person's clothing and any containers they may have (backpacks, purses, etc.) on booking them in a jail? |
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Definition
| No, this is a routine, well defined exception to the warrant rule |
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Term
| When performing a protective sweep, are officers allowed to look for and seize weapons they have reason to believe would be present? |
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Definition
| Yes, as they pose a danger to the officer |
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Term
| Are officers allowed to seize items of "mere evidence" (of no danger in themselves but possibly proof of a crime) without a warrant? |
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Definition
| Yes. The 4th amendment protects privacy, not property, and if officers are present and lawfully performing a search/sweep, any items of evidentiary value they come across they may seize |
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Term
| Is an officer allowed to approach a person on a bus with no articulable suspicion and ask them to consent to a search of their luggage? |
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Definition
| Yes. The person had every right to refuse his or her consent and walk away. |
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Term
| Suppose a man voluntarily went to a police station to answer questions about a crime. The police have probable cause to believe that the man was involved and wanted to take a sample of a dark substance under the man's fingernails, which he refused. Are the officers allowed to detain the man long enough to get such an easily destroyed sample against his will? |
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Definition
| Yes. Although not an arrest, there was probable cause and the evidence was of the type that is easily destroyed. The search was a limited intrusion on the man's person and not considered a violation of the 4th amendment |
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Term
| If the police create an exigent circumstance through reasonable action, is it still an exception to the search warrant rule? |
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Definition
| Yes, as the officers were not deliberately trying to create said exigency. |
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Term
| Is it consent if the person believes they are complying with law and are not reasonably aware that they can refuse to consent? |
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Definition
| No, the consent must be voluntary in the sense that the person knows that he or she can legally refuse |
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Term
| What circumstances would allow a third party to consent to a search? |
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Definition
-The consent is voluntary
-The person has common (or apparently common) authority over the area to be searched |
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Term
| If an officer needed to arrest a person but knew he or she would be in another person's home, what must they obtain? |
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Definition
| Both an arrest and search warrant |
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Term
| If one person with authority to consent does so but another with equal authority refuses consent, are the police allowed to search? |
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Definition
| Provided the police believe both parties have the common authority required to grant consent, no. |
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Term
| Does a hotel clerk have the authority to grant police consent to search a person's hotel room? |
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Definition
| No, unless the occupant signed a waiver agreeing to such authority |
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Term
| Must a plain view discovery of evidence include inadvertence? |
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Definition
| No, although it is often a feature. |
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Term
| If an officer discovers possible evidence with plain view but has no probable cause to believe the item is involved in a crime, can they seize it? |
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Definition
| No, to seize an item in plain view one would have to have the same probable cause required to obtain a warrant to seize it |
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Term
| Is a person's trash considered private and protected by the 4th amendment? |
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Definition
| No. While one person may consider it so, society is not ready to accept such a concept. Trash is usually left outside the curtilage of a home and expected to be handled by a third party (trash collector), so a person has no reason to believe it will be kept private. |
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Term
| If a person clearly leaves "No Trespassing" signs and builds a fence around a field, do officers need a warrant to search it? |
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Definition
| No. Officers may search any open field, regardless of signs. The field may be lawfully observed from the air by passing planes and by passerby through the fence, so a person has no expectation of privacy |
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Term
| If an item was seized illegally, can it be used in a state trial? |
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Definition
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